Waiting on the Bus

I recently purchased a ticket for a 20 hour bus ride home for the holidays and I want to take this time to share some numbers about transportation in the US.

First of all not all YAVs get to visit home at Christmas.  We are all are asked to be heavily invested in the communities we serve. Each site makes their own rules about visitors, and vacation travel.  Last year as a YAV in Boston I did not come home at Christmas and that taught me more of what Advent and Christmas are about. I found a friend in an older man named Ray last year.  It was a beautiful time.  I found a truer meaning of the season.  I now know Christmas is not about presents, it is about the people you are with and the ways God shows up.  Christmas is when we remember God is here and God expresses himself by shining some light in a dark time of year. Feel free to read about my lovely Christmas last year here.

Ok. Transportation:
 Why does transportation matter to churches?

We spend money on transportation.  Perhaps we want to save on transportation expenses so we can give more to charities we support. Maybe we want to invest in transportation options that lead to a better world, build up God's kingdom.  Can we use our transportation resources to help out our neighbors like picking people up, or helping change a tire.  Are there transportation modes that may be better for the planet God made, and God's people on it who he asks us to love?  Are there ways we can use less transportation fuel so others with more of a need have enough.  Let's explore these ideas.

We all must realize that 28% of the total energy in the US is used for transportation, the second largest consumption sector after electric power production.  71% of all petroleum consumed in the US is used on transportation. Every day our nation burns 18.88 million barrels (40 gallon drums) of petroleum products, 8.774 million of which is gasoline.  That's pretty substantial. http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=oil_use.  

Flow diagram of the US energy consumption by source and sector
http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/flow/petroleum.pdf 

Why might the Church care about Petroleum or fossil fuels anyway?

1.Violence.  I'm not even going to try and tally all the soldiers, not just the US soldiers who have died in conflicts to protect US oil interests.  Due to the simple fact our nation consumes so much, our leaders have to make sure there is gas in the gas stations.  We have to be real, but also recognize where violence happens.  Violence, oppression, and dangerous work conditions are not uncommon in the fossil fuel industry. Human and environmental exposure to toxins from the fuels before they are refined and after they are burned contribute to most of the health and environmental problems of our age.

We consumers who consume so much regardless of what it costs should consider more ways to cut back to reduce harm to ourselves and our brothers and sisters. http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=19191

US Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Source.  Data from 2012. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/co2.html

2. Justice. Just this June, the General Assembly of my denomination, (Presbyterian Church USA) was presented with an overture from the Boston Presbytery asking the denomination to divest it's endowment money from fossil fuel companies.  The request was referred by the Environment and Immigration Committee to the Committie for Mission Responsibility Through Investment to let them handle it.  That divestment request was part of a larger movement for other denominations, schools, universities, and businesses across the nation to make a statement that we want to stop our dependence on fossil fuels to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change.  That's where I first heard the term "Climate Justice"

http://www.fossilfreepcusa.org/

What? Churches are talking about fossil fuels and climate change? What do Christians know about climate change? There is a committee for Immigration and Environment? These were my first thoughts.  At General Assembly people told me to look at it this way:
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Our denomination funds YAVs like me to restore wetlands in New Orleans from the BP Oil Spill.  It's contradictory for the denomination to fund clean up efforts and also profit from companies like BP causing environmental damage.

In other news,  climate change is a justice issue.  Many of the world's poor are affected by climate change in the global south, where rivers are drying up.  Lakes that provide a source of water, food, and employment are disappearing.  Larger storms are causing larger disasters, and the poor have a harder time recovering than the wealthy.  The wealthy parts of the world (i.e. the United States)  can easily remain ignorant of these things where wealth and a fortunate happening of geography slow the direct impact.

As changing climates change lives, geography and wealth will further divide the resources from those who have them and those who don't.  This is already happening.  Any Christian who pays attention to the old testament laws and especially the prophets on taking care of the oppressed and not being part of the oppression, or any Christian who listened to what Jesus said about the "least of these" better consider getting on board with fighting climate change or just keep reading scripture to see what could happen.
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Oh. Yikes. I see it differently now.

Some opposition to this movement for divestment, and even the criticism I have is that it is just about money.  It changes very little in the life of the church but it makes us feel better that we aren't profiting from large fossil fuel companies.  It may even free us from the evil of profiting from oppression.  Maybe.  Everyone at General Assembly talking about the issue still drove or flew there in vehicles using fossil fuels.  I went there on a plane, I'm just as hypocritical as they come, but we have to start somewhere.  Granted that is no reason to oppose the movement, just a minor setback.

We must attack such large issues on multiple levels.  While we are putting our investment money where our beliefs are, let's put our daily actions and our pocket change there too.

Since Transportation and gasoline are large contributors to climate change, I decided to think about how I could get home for Christmas in a sustainable way, and in a way that reflects some of those ideas on "climate justice" and conservation.

So the greyhound bus home....

Some numbers:

• There are 858 miles between Ferncliff and my house. 
• It takes 13 hours driving but I don't trust myself to stay awake so I'd spend the night somewhere and allow up to 24 hours at least.  Who knows with winter weather.

I considered stopping in Nashville for the night for an adventure and get to hang out with some newly made friends there I made on my drive out here in August. That was one option and a very good one but most of them would be away for the holidays and I didn't want to crash the Nashville YAV house on my way home as they stayed at their YAV sites.  So I looked at the times and prices for public transit to compare and even investigated energy use to see if public transit is worth it to let someone else drive and I wouldn't worry about falling asleep.  Here is what I found.  

I ruled out flying because I waited too long and tickets are in the $800-$900 range which I can't afford.  I also ruled out the Amtrak because it would go through Chicago to get to Virginia from Little Rock.  That costs close to the bus but takes twice as long.

• The Greyhound bus bus can get me 783 miles closer to home in 19 hours, making it 21 by the time I make it all the way home from the bus station

• If I drive home to Millboro, Virginia from Little Rock Arkansas and back (approx 1720 miles total) in my 2004 Chevy Impala, I'll burn up about 65 gallons of gasoline releasing 1227 lbs CO2 emissions.  And it will cost about $195 round trip (assuming $3 per gallon--although gas prices keep dropping below that).  
• If I take the Greyhound to Roanoke, VA (65 miles from home), the bus will burn up 213 gallons of diesel fuel each way and I'd burn another 10 gal of gasoline total in my parents car for them to get me to and from the bus station.  It costs $288 for the bus ticket and another $30 for the gas in my parents' car $318 total.  Other bus lines may be cheaper but I couldn't find other routes going to my home. (note: gasoline and diesel emit different levels of CO2.  More at: http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=307&t=11)

Things look better if I consider fuel use per person:

• If the bus is full with fifty people both ways my share is actually only 8.72 gallons per person plus 10 from the bus station (18.72 gal per person total). Net 284 lbs CO2 emissions
• If the bus is only half full with 25 people my share is still only 27.4 gallons per person (17.4 on the bus, 10 in parents' car). Net 380 lbs CO2
• If there are only eight people on the bus my share is 64.5 gal per person, the same as going the entire way alone in my car, but with a net 784 lbs CO2 emissions.  And I'm guessing Greyhound will find more than 8 people to send the bus that far.

So I spend $123 more to save lots of fuel, half a month's stipend.  Is it worth it? maybe I'm crazy.  On the YAV budget that's not an easy expense to make but a sacrifice for sustainability is a sacrifice worth making.

Let me go deeper.

• Greyhound claims on average each bus takes 50 cars off the road and achieves 184 people miles per gallon (miles per gal x number of people on the bus).  (https://www.greyhound.com/en/about/factsandfigures.aspx).  That's not only incredible it's over twice what air lines claim for each seat!
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Image from an excellent Wall Street Journal Article on  airplane fuel economy.  http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704901104575423261677748380

• My car gets an average of 26.5 miles per gallon.  With just me in it, that's only 26.5 people-miles-per-gallon --significantly lower than 184, even lower than 60.4 on a delta flight!
• If we assume the bus I'm on takes 50 cars like mine off the road, the bus  could potentially save as much as 2,800 gallons of gasoline each way which is 53,000 lbs CO2 emissions! That's incredible!  
• The greyhound bus people mile per gallon will outweigh me riding alone in my car with as few as 8 people riding the bus.

Brief reflection:

Running all these numbers I realized car-pooling in a smaller car is a better option.  Since cars are more fuel efficient than buses, fitting more people into cars makes a bigger difference, but only up to the point when more fuel efficient cars end up consuming more gas than the bus because of how many cars are needed.

  In this particular case study, that point occurs when about half the bus (25 people) are packed in five cars like mine.

Tips to save energy on transportation

• car pool as much as possible
• take public transit on a bus or train when traveling by yourself.  These vehicles are already running anyway and consuming the fuel, help them out by hoping on the band wagon
• Plan ahead, bus tickets, train tickets and even plane tickets in general are cheaper the earlier you buy.
• There is no rule of thumb, get to know what public transportation options are between where you are and where you're going.
• The Amtrak or plane may be cheaper depending on the route.
• A monthly bus or subway pass can make a great Christmas gift!

So that's my story.  I am saving about 1,000 lbs Carbon dioxide emissions.  I had to really stretch my YAV money to spend about $123 more than I would driving to support an industry that helps reduce our fossil fuel usage as a society, and not just buy fossil fuels to use myself. I'm helping lower my own environmental impact and that of other bus passengers. I get to sleep on the road.  I don't have to drive on the winter roads in the south where there are no trucks to clear off ice and snow.  I get home faster than I would stopping to sleep in Nashville. And maybe I'll meet a friend.  Maybe this is something more Presbyterians should be doing as our leaders consider divestment from fossil fuel companies.

I also want to remark that I went a little overboard on the calculations just to make a point.  Choosing travel shouldn't be a scary mess of numbers, but when we talk about sustainability we need to consider ALL our options.  The purpose of this article is to encourage people to think through more than just $ amounts, time, and schedules but also look for other important factors like fuel use and environmental impact, possibilities to make friends, time to sleep, time to read, time to look at birds out the window, etc.  Also time that we don't go crazy being cooped up in a bus for so long.  We need to find balance in our lives, and there are lots of values we tend to overlook as Americans,; values we don't know about until we do something new like ride the bus for 20 hours.  

It may be the case that driving makes more sense for your vacation than public transit, but It really is worth considering before you make that choice.

I'll be home for Christmas--(In a sustainable fashion)
 if only in my dreams.

I welcome any comments if you are skeptical about my calculations or your thoughts on public transportation.  Even comments on factors I didn't mention that are important to your travels.

Drive Safe! (to the train or bus station that is)